The Quick Guide to Reading in Color

Sunday, November 28, 2010

New Crayons & What books MUST I read before 2010 ends?

First, the year is almost over. I've already created my rather-lengthy list of the best books I've read in 2010 (so far). I'm going to spend these last few weeks of 2010 trying to finish up all my challenges and read all the books sent to me for review. But what other books must I absolutely read before 2010 ends? Must be by/about a poc, of course. But I so don't want to miss out on anything good! So let's have at it, in the comments leave me title suggestions. Odds are, I'll only get to read one or two of the recommendations but I'm curious to see if I missed out on ALL the great titles or if I read a great deal of them.

Jameela lives with her mother and father in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that there is no school in their poor, war-torn village, and though Jameela lives with a birth defect that has left her with a cleft lip, she feels relatively secure, sustained by her unwavering faith and the strength of her beloved mother, Mor. But when Mor suddenly dies, Jameela’s father impulsively decides to seek a new life in Kabul. Jameela, a devout Muslim, is appalled as her father succumbs to drink and drugs and then suddenly remarries, a situation that turns Jameela into a virtual slave to her demanding stepmother. When the stepmother discovers that Jameela is trying to learn to read, she urges her father to abandon the child in Kabul’s busy marketplace. Throughout it all, it is the memory of Mor that anchors her and in the end gives Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them into her life again.

-Reading for the South Asian Challenge

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

This little thing with the perfect face and hands doing nothing but counting on me. And me wanting nothing else but to run crying into my own mom's room and have her do the whole thing.

It's not going to happen....

Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy -- impulsive, eager, restless. On his sixteenth birthday he gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever. She's pregnant. Bobby's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and hanging with friends no longer seem important as they're replaced by visits to Nia's obstetrician and a social worker who says that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption.

With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson looks at the male side of teen pregnancy as she delves into one young man's struggle to figure out what "the right thing" is and then to do it. No matter what the cost.

-I'm 99 % sure I'm going to cry while reading this. C'mon it's a teenage father who actually cares about his baby. And yes I have recommended this book countless times but I've never read it. Haha. But I'm 100% sure I'm going to really really like this book.

Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger

Since his parents' divorce, John's mother hasn't touched him, her new fiancé wants them to move away, and his father would rather be anywhere than at Friday night dinner with his son. It's no wonder John writes articles like "Interview with the Stepfather" and "Memoirs from Hell." The only release he finds is in homemade zines like the amazing Escape Velocity by Marisol, a self-proclaimed "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian." Hanging around the Boston Tower Records for the new issue of Escape Velocity, John meets Marisol and a hard love is born.

While at first their friendship is based on zines, dysfunctional families, and dreams of escape, soon both John and Marisol begin to shed their protective shells. Unfortunately, John mistakes this growing intimacy for love, and a disastrous date to his junior prom leaves that friendship in ruins. Desperately hoping to fix things, John convinces Marisol to come with him to a zine conference on Cape Cod. On the sandy beaches by the Bluefish Wharf Inn, John realizes just how hard love can be.

-For GLBT Reading Challenge

Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones

"For most people, 1975 was the year that bell-bottoms were in, Happy Days was the best show on TV, and shag carpeting was the ultimate interior decoration. For Tiphanie Jayne Baker, however, it’s the year her parents decide to uproot her from her life in Denver and move to the ritzy suburb of Brent Hills, Colorado. The only Black girl at a high school full of Barbies, Tiphanie suddenly feels like she has to be better than her peers just to be equal. Ninth grade has never been so unbearable.

That is until Tiphanie meets Jackie Sue Webster. Jackie Sue may be blond, but she’s definitely not a Barbie. She spouts out crazy vocabulary words like “anomaly” and “imbroglio,” and announces that she’s walking trailer trash as grandly as if she were declaring she were descended from Queen Elizabeth. So what if Jackie Sue has some secrets? Now that Tiphanie has finally found a real friend, life at Brent Hills High suddenly seems like it might be bearable—possibly even enjoyable. But as Tiphanie begins to feel more comfortable in her new home, her ties to her old community start to fray, and she can’t help but wonder—does fitting in have to mean selling out?"

-I want to read as many of the books I WoWd as I can, including this one

I got more books from the library but that's all I'm going to share for this week.

All summaries from Amazon.com

What new books did you get? What books do I need to read before 2010 is over?

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Reading in Color Wishlist

See also my GoodReads to-read list, since I own almost none of the books on there. If you own any of these books and want to trade for them (or just give them away! hee hee) then please contact me! This list is in no particular order.

My Review Policy

I'm happy to review books that are sent to me when I can. Contact me if you want me to review your book willbprez (at) aol (dot) com

I prefer to review YA books about people of color. Occasionally, I will review a book with a white main character, but odds are, that I will decline.

However, I do NOT review blog novels or e-books. Sorry!

Furthermore, I will ALWAYS review books honestly so if you only want a positive review, that's not me. I blog with integrity.

Reading in Color Ratings & Explanations

5/5=<3 A.Must.Read. Preferably buy it, but if you can't or don't want to, go to the library! The book was amazing. 'Nuff said

4/5=Excellent. Great read. Strongly recommended to read.

3/5=Liked it. Good characters, plot, etc. Read it if you want to be entertained and aren't very nitpicky.

2/5=Decent. Hit or Miss. If you see it, read it, but don't go out of your way to look for it. Don't read if you only like really, really good books.

1/5=One or two ok things about this book. Disappointing. Hopefully the next one by the author will be better! I hope I never have to give a book this review :(

"IQ" stands for Incredible Quote. It's one of my favorite lines from the book. I pick one that really stands out, whether it's funny, inspirational or deep.

"Off-Color" a review of a book that does not have a poc in it. These will be rare and far in between. Uusally they will have a poc as a secondary character or be authored by a poc even if the mc isn't a poc.